Running Head: GETTING THE CONTRACT
Getting the Contract
BUS 401
Assignment
01 March 2013
Scenario
A CEO/owner of a large business that starts from the concept phase into the full production is ready to expand his business by competing for government contracts. The report presents the strategies that the CEO will employ to win a contract from the government. However, the paper presents pre-negotiation process to enhance the greater understanding of its importance to the company.
Process of Pre-negotiation and Its Importance to the Company
Negotiation is the process by which parties attempt to reach accord that specifies the method they will act towards one another. However, a pre-negotiation process is part of the important process that a company should undertake to win a government contract. To obtain the best terms from the negotiation table, it is critical do a pre-negotiation planning process. There are four phases in the pre-negotiation planning process and they are as follows:
Intelligence Gathering: The first process in the pre-negotiation process is to collect as much information as possible about the government party. The information gathering activities is to collect primary and secondary data on the government and other process is to:
Collect internal source data on the government;
Review the previous strategies employ by the government on similar contract.
The importance of information gathering is to obtain the accurate picture of the other
The video does a good job in showing us the aspects of what to do prior to the negotiation during the Preparation Stage. It gives tips of errors not do, certain situations to be aware and try and prevent, and correct them if they happen. Negotiations can be broken down into two primary bargaining categories: Distributive and Integrative. “Distributive bargaining is a competitive process for determining how to distribute or allocate scarce resources whereas integrative bargaining is collaborative and allows both parties to create value and satisfy their needs” (Hames, 2012, p. 57,
1. Review text pages 137–139 in Chapter 4. These pages cover step 9 in the planning process, assessing the social context of negotiation.
Negotiation is a fundamental form of dispute resolution involving two or more parties (Michelle, M.2003). Negotiations can also take place in order to avoid any future disputes. It can be either an interpersonal or inter-group process. Negotiations can occur at international or corporate level and also at a personal level. Negotiations often involve give and take acknowledging that there is interdependence between the disputants to some extent to achieve the goal. This means that negotiations only arise when the goals cannot be achieved independently (Lewicki and Saunders et al., 1997). Interdependence means the both parties can influence the outcome for the other party and vice versa. The negotiations can be win-lose or win-win in nature.
1. How did you plan for the negotiation? Explain how you decided on a strategy?
The United States government is the largest single purchaser of goods and services in the world. Even during times of economic hardship, the US continues to dump billions into the private sector. The federal procurement spending rate of growth has surpassed the rate of U.S. inflation every year, since 2000. With annual federal procurement budgets of more than $400 billion, it is no surprise that the competition for government contracts has increased tremendously. Consequently, more and more companies are trying to get a piece of the action. When these companies adhere to all of the required regulations and statutes, they expect their proposals to be evaluated and the contract awarded in
The government selects contract proposals from many competitors large and small, and each proposal must be effective in scope and developed with an attitude of winning the contract. From the e-Activity, select two (2) of the suggested commandments that you feel are most important to understand in order to write a government bid proposal effectively. Provide a rationale for your selection.
Negotiations are something that everyone experiences and does at some level. Even if informal, people negotiate and barter using what they have to offer to get what they want all of the time. However, there are times in life where the negotiations are much more serious and the stakes a lot higher. Whether official or unofficial, there are negotiation tactics and conditions that should be watched out for because they are a sign of potential problems.
In any negotiation, preparation is crucial; and having a set, outlined process to follow when preparing helps mitigate a potential oversight of any significant issues within the negotiation. Following a set process also helps one stay on task and in-line with what the important issues and factors are in a negotiation. In Bargaining for Advantage, G. Richard Shell provides a well-structured framework to follow in planning for a negotiation. For this reason, I used Shell’s negotiation preparation framework to plan for the negotiation between Rapid Printing Company (Rapid) and Scott Computers, Inc (Scott).
Preparation is first stage of negotiation process which starts with defining the key goals which means -what are the person’s expectations from the negotiation process? Also person involved in Negotiation process during preparation he should decide his or her BATNA- Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement. Identifying key issues in negotiation, setting priorities and
I planned for this negotiation by first identifying what my goals were, choosing an appropriate strategy than creating a planning document that incorporates all the aspects of negotiating demonstrated above.
Negotiating is a practice that allows for two sides to reach common ground and agree upon a specific settlement or transaction. During this at times complicated process, the bargaining sides develop a measure together to move forward in their business process. As a lead negotiator of a small firm, the research and analysis of the sought after contract has to be thoroughly conveyed to the U.S. Government. The small business’s negotiating team should be very familiar with the federal negotiating team and all that the federal government is expecting from the product they desire. As there are hundreds of competitors out there, it is safe to assume that there are multiple products out there. However, the negotiating firm of the small business must use different negotiating gambits and pay particular attention to the body language and examine the language used during the entire process.
When entering into contract negotiations, the objective of each side is to obtain a contract of greatest benefit to their organization. This desirable outcome never happens by chance; it is always the result of careful planning. A critical part of this planning is understainding the role of power. This includes determining who possesses the power in bargaining, and establishing strrategies to bargain with individiuals who have more power than you. This power is needed to obtain the advantage in negotiating which will increase the liklihood of obtaining the goal (Lewicki, Saunders & Barry, 2011). Once in the heat of negotiation, it can be too late to try to catch-up on planning which failed to occur before the negotiation process began.
The formation of a contract requires offer and acceptance in order to become legally binding. An offer is an expression of willingness to contract on specified terms made with the intention that it is to become legally binding as soon as it is accepted by the person to whom it is addressed. The advert above is a unilateral contract as “one party assumes an obligation under the contract”. Consideration is the act of performance in accordance with the terms of the offer, in this case acceptance would take place once the offeree starts the race. For example, the case of Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Co [1892] where Mrs Carlill was entitled to the reward as the advert constituted an offer of a unilateral contract. She had accepted by
There is only one official language spoken in Japan, Japanese. In spite of this, many Japanese are able to understand English to a certain extent since English is the foreign language that everyone must learn as part of required education.
By building up a negotiation strategy ahead of the project time can guarantee an anticipated and positive result from the IT negotiations. Also it’s always important to involve the legal counsel if necessary before starting early draw up on the current resources of that particular organizations. Likewise, one has to be ready to figure out how to adjust the current system to sudden change in circumstances which may occur during